Sunday, January 03, 2010

Abacus Beads/Suin Poon Tzi

I remember eating this dish many years ago in Malaysia. There is a small café at PJ Old Town that served this dish and I remember ordering it each time I visit that them. ‘Suin Poon Tzi’ (算盘子) or Abacus Beads is a popular Chinese Hakka dish. Even though I am a Hokkien but I just love Hakka dishes like Yong Tau Foo, Kau Yoke and Char Yoke. Abacus Beads is very similar to the making of Italian gnocchi but instead of potato we use yam or taro. The yam or taro is steamed, mashed and mixed with tapioca flour to form into dough. It is shape to resemble beads on an abacus. They are boiled in water until it floats. Once boiled these beads has a soft on the outside with a nice fragrance of taro and chewy on the inside texture from the tapioca flour. The beads can be stir-fried with vegetables, meat or anything your like.

1. Steam taro until soft and mashed while it is hot.2. Add the tapioca starch and salt in a bowl and add the hot taro paste to it. Stir well and when it cools down a bit knead it to form into smooth dough. (If the dough is too dry add a bit of water and if the dough is too soft add a bit more tapioca starch)3. Pinch a piece of the dough (size of a marble) and roll into a ball and gently press in the centre with your thumb to make a deep dimple. Do the same to the rest of the dough.4. Bring a pot of water to boil. Drop in the beads and once it floats, let it boil for another 30 seconds. Remove the beads with a slotted spoon. Set it aside for further use.

1. Heat up a frying pan. Add about 2 tbsp of oil and stir-fry shallots and garlic until fragrant and lightly brown.2. Add in meat, carrots, mushroom and black fungus. Stir-fry for a minutes until the meat changes color and cooked.3. Add in the abacus beads, all the seasonings and chicken stock. Stir-fry for a minute until well mixed. Check seasoning.4. Dish out and sprinkle with spring onions. Served warm.

in my whole entire life, i took this abacus thingy 2 times only.. first time in malacca jonkers street and another time in ipoh garden east during cny, a lady was selling this at a 5 foot way. Not to say i love it very much but they are very nice to bite.. spongy in a way... :) now even if i want to eat that, i dont know where to get them.. anyway, thanks for sharing the receipe ...

You love yam, don't you? ;) I learnt 2 dishes from a family friend who is Hakka - Lor Pak Kou and Suin Poon Tzi. And I find Suin Poon Tzi requires more work. So, I applaud you for making this. Your abacus beads are so uniform in size. And the final product looks soooo delicious!

This is my all-time fave though I'm not a bit of Hakka! In fact, we do make it at home ... It's been a while since we last made it ... Yours is simpler ... I noticed you did leave out choi poh though ... Hard to find there?

Thanks for this! I'm a Singaporean Hakka and was deighted to see this. My Dad's cousin makes this every Chinese New Year and I hope to learn from her how to make this this Feb. Happy to have your recipe to check against too!

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About Me

I was born and raised in Malaysia and now live in Northern California, USA with my wonderful husband Carlos. I love to bake and cook. It is very relaxing and I find my creativity flowing in the kitchen. I creates this blog to record all my cooking and baking adventures and also share my tested recipes with you.
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